Trees planted downtown ahead of Colorado Springs’ 150th Anniversary in July COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Celebrations are already underway for the Colorado Springs' 150th anniversary coming up in July of 2021. City leaders, including Mayor John Suthers, gathered at Alamo Square Park to plant two red oak trees in honor of our city and its founder. Colorado Springs was founded back in 1871 by General Willam Jackson Palmer. It was nearly treeless at the time, but Palmer changed that by planting thousands of trees in our city. City officials are carrying on that tradition through the "COS 150 Tree Challenge", which aims to plant 18,071 trees by the end of 2021.